Brothel: that’s what ballerina calls the famous Bolshoi Ballet

And not just any brothel. Ballerina Anastasia Volochkova claims it is a “giant brothel” where principal and soloist dancers, and dancers in the Corps as young as 13, were pimped out to patrons. This, during the reign of director Anatoly Iksanov, who has declined to comment.

We’ve heard of Volochkova before: she was fired (very publicly) for being overweight.

Anastasia Volochkova said the company became “a giant brothel” under Anatoly Iksanov, with dancers as young as 13 told they were expected to have sex with Russian philanthropists.

Volochkova, who was famously fired in 2003 for being too heavy, has since appeared on TV talent and talk shows and dabbled in politics. She made her accusations on a Russian TV talk show Sunday, then repeated them to Russian media yesterday.

“The girls were forced to go along to grand dinners and given advance warning that afterwards they would be expected to go to bed and have sex,” she alleged.

“When the girls asked: ‘What happens if we refuse?’ they were told that they would not go on tour or even perform at the Bolshoi theatre. Can you imagine?”

It is the latest controversy involving the world famous Russian theatre and its ballet company.

On Jan. 17, a masked man threw sulphuric acid in the face of Bolshoi artistic director Sergei Filin, leaving him severely scarred and impairing his vision.

The Bolshoi Ballet is a world-reknowned classical ballet company based in Moscow founded nearly 250 years ago.